This invention relates to a chair lift apparatus and particularly to such an apparatus for transfer of a person from a wheel chair or the like into a restricted area.
Certain persons for various reasons have limited mobility. Depending upon the degree of immobility, the person may be restricted to the use of a wheelchair or similar device for movement from one place to another. Many such persons with greater degrees of mobility which permit them to walk with a walker and the like also have great difficulty, however, in entering and leaving a bathing or other water-treating tub.
Various chair lift type devices have been developed and suggested for assisting, transporting and transferring of such persons into and from a bathing facility. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 3,852,835 which issued Dec. 10, 1974 discloses a sling-mounted chair secured to an overhead and hydraulically positioned support. The unit includes a plurality of flexible support elements interconnected to a common point to define a tripod-type universal pivotal support. The person, when in the sling-mounted chair, can be moved upwardly by a pulley arrangement in which the total chair lift is moved over and from alignment with the tub. Lowering and raising from the tub are provided and are effected through the same action as the entrance and removal of the individual. Various other similar alternate supports are shown in U.S. Pat. Nos. 2,680,955 3,104,399, and 3,465,371.
Although various systems have been suggested the inventor has not found any commercially available unit which provides a reliable and totally stable means of transferring a person of significant immobility from and to a bathing facility. This is particularly true with respect to persons who have significant difficulty in standing during the transfer process.
There is therefore a substantial need for a transfer mechanism which provides a very stable and reliable movement of a relatively immobile person to and from a tub-like facility, particularly permitting the transfer without the necessity of a standing movement from a wheelchair.